Instructions for Authors – Geobios Last Updated: September, 8th, 2017

Geobios – Instructions for Authors

Geobios publishes bimonthly in English original peer-reviewed articles of international interest in any area of palaeontology, palaeobiology, palaeoecology, palaeobiogeography, stratigraphy and biogeochemistry. All taxonomic groups are treated, including microfossils, invertebrates, plants, vertebrates, and ichnofossils. Geobios welcomes descriptive papers based on original material as well as more analytically and/or methodologically-oriented papers. A high priority level is given to synchronic and/or diachronic multi- or inter-disciplinary studies mixing various fields of Earth and Life Sciences. Works based on extant data are also considered, provided they offer significant insights into geological-time studies. Geobios homepage: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/geobios/. All accepted and published articles (including electronic Supplementary Data) are available online on ScienceDirect at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00166995. Geobios is indexed and abstracted in: Science Citation Index, ISI, SCOPUS, Bulletin signalétique, PASCAL, Geo Abstracts, Biological Abstracts, The Geoscience Database, Referativnyi Zhurnal, SciSearch, Research Alert and Current Contents/Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences.

1. Submission of papers The entire submission and review process for Geobios is handled electronically, through Elsevier’s EVISE® web site (https://www.evise.com/profile/#/GEOBIO/login). You must have an e-mail address to use EVISE. Authors submit their article online by registering, logging-in, and submitting. Detailed instructions on the use of EVISE are available at https://www.evise.com. If you need any help with EVISE, please do not hesitate to contact the EVISE support web site: http://service.elsevier.com/app/home/supporthub/publishing/.

Any manuscript submitted to Geobios must closely follow the instructions given below (section 2). Therefore, please check your manuscript carefully before to submit it online. A manuscript not following the instructions given below (section 2) will be rejected prior to enter the review process.

Once the uploading of all source files is complete, the system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for peer-reviewing. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF files at submission for the review process, native source files (including high-quality figures) are needed for the editorial processing. All correspondence, including the Editor's decision, request for revisions and author queries will be by e-mail via the online submission system. We accept text files in most standard word-processing formats but Microsoft Office Word or OpenOffice/LibreOffice Writer is preferred. Graphics should be high-resolution; the preferred formats are either TIFF, EPS or PSD. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork please see section 2.10. All submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter presenting the overall interest and significance of the research. Submission of an original article implies that: - It has not been published previously, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis; - It is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; - All authors have seen the manuscript and approve its publication; - It is approved tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out; - If accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher. Upon acceptance of an article, the corresponding author will be asked to complete a ‘Copyright transfer agreement’; acceptance of this Agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of the information. For further information on author’s rights and copyright, please refer to http://authors.elsevier.com/locate/authorsrights.

Thematic issues. Collections of reviewed papers on particular themes can be published together in a single issue of the journal. They may represent the outcome of a scientific meeting and/or be solicited by one or more individuals following discussion with, and the agreement of, the Editorial Committee. Please contact the Editor in chief (https://www.journals.elsevier.com/geobios/editorial-board) for further information.

1/7 Instructions for Authors – Geobios Last Updated: September, 8th, 2017 2. Preparation of the manuscript Overall, it is highly recommended when preparing a manuscript for Geobios to refer to and closely follow the format of accepted manuscripts available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/aip/00166995.

2.1. General Submitted manuscripts should not exceed ~40 double-spaced pages from introduction to conclusion, and ~15 figures + tables; the bibliography should not exceed ~150 references. However, longer manuscripts could also be considered; in this case, please contact the Editor in chief (https://www.journals.elsevier.com/geobios/editorial-board) prior to online submission. Please note that most manuscripts can be shortened efficiently without loss of scientific content by associating electronic Supplementary Data with the printed article (see section 2.7). Geobios reserves the right to edit manuscripts for style and format, and may suggest ways in which manuscripts should be shortened to save space. Manuscripts should be written in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of both). If English is not the author’s first language, the manuscript may be proofed by a colleague fluent in English or a professional copyediting service – for information about Elsevier’s English language editing and copyediting services, please visit http://www.elsevier.com/languageediting. Nomenclature and units follow internationally accepted rules and conventions, including: - The International System of Units (SI). If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI. Measurements in Imperial units are not allowed; - The International Standard ISO 80000-2 (ex ISO 31-11) for mathematical signs and symbols; - The International Codes of Zoological (ICZN) and Botanical (ICBN) Nomenclatures. ICZN is used for heterotropic protozoans such as foraminifera, radiolaria, and tintinnids; ICBN applies to Bacteria and chloroplast- bearing protists including diatoms, coccolithophorids, silicoflagellates, ebridians, prasinophytes, acritarchs, and dinoflagellates; - The International Stratigraphic Guide for biostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic units, and the IUGS standard geological time scale and rock names.

Miscellaneous points: - No blank before a colon or a semi-colon; a single blank after a period, colon, semi-colon or comma (except within standard abbreviations such as k.y., m.y., e.g., i.e., cf., etc.) and between numerals and units (“3 cm” not “3cm”); - No sentences begin with a numeral or an abbreviation: write “Three species…”, “Globigerina bulloides…” or “Ocean Drilling Program…” rather than “3 species…”, “G. bulloides…” or “ODP…”, respectively; - Footnotes in the main text are not allowed; - Avoid “see”, “e.g.”, “i.e.”, “etc.” when referring to references, tables or figures (useless in most cases); - All symbols should be clearly defined the first time they are used; they have neither final dot nor plural mark; - Numerals: use decimal points (not commas); use a comma (not space) for thousands (10,000 and above); - Taxon names: use lower case for all taxon names regardless of their rank; use italics only for genus and species names, and bold italics only for genus names alone (see section 2.6 for an example); - Italics are not to be used for expressions of Latin origin such as: e.g., i.e., cf., aff., ca., et al., per se, fide, etc.; - Geographical designations remain as in their original language (e.g., “Massif central”, “Sierra morena”); - Cardinal points are always in lower case, except when they designate a region or are considered as proper nouns (e.g., “the South of France”, “Western countries”); abbreviations N-S-E-W (without dot) can be used; - Time abbreviations for ages are “ka” (thousand years before present) and “Ma” (million years before present); symbols representing quantities of time are “k.y.” and “m.y.” (e.g., “during 65 m.y.”); - Time and time-rock terms: by definition, “lower”, “middle” and “upper” apply to stratigraphic units (i.e., members, formations, groups, stages, series and so on) whereas “early”, “middle” and “late” apply to time units (i.e., ages, epochs, periods and so on); they should be capitalized only when indicating formally defined stratigraphic or time units (e.g., “Lower Ordovician” and “Late Cretaceous”, but “middle Miocene” and “late Zanclean”). If preceded by a specific name, "zone" must be capitalized (e.g., “Palaeofusulina sinensis Zone”, “Zigzag Zone”, but “calcareous nannofossil zone MNN11”); - Do not abbreviate nouns and stratigraphic units (e.g., use “Cretaceous”, not “Cret.”); - Short mathematical formulae should be presented in the line of normal text, whereas longer ones can be isolated in a separate line. Different formulae should be clearly separated in the manuscript, at least by punctuation marks, if not by words. All formulae should be presented consistently and clearly with regard to the meaning of each symbol and its correct location. All unusual symbols must be clearly explained in the text. Scalar variables are to be italicized, whereas vectors and matrices are written in bold characters. Do not use complicated juxtapositions of symbols and try to avoid complicated/multi- level subscripts and superscripts. Use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms (e.g., X/Y). Powers of e (exponential function to the base e) are often more conveniently denoted by exp(). Do not use special fonts if there is no urgent need to do so. Make clear distinction between similar symbols (e.g., between zero (0) and the letter “O”, between one (1) and the letter “l”, and between multiplication () and the letter “x”); 2/7 Instructions for Authors – Geobios Last Updated: September, 8th, 2017 - Chemical and geochemical notations: Isotope numbers precede the symbols (e.g., 18O). Isotope ratios should be noted, e.g., 18O/16O, 40Ar/39Ar; the isotope standard(s) (e.g., VSMOW, VPDB, NBS-19, CDT, AIR, etc.) used to compute stable isotope abundances expressed in the per mil (‰) -notation (e.g., 13C, 18O) must always be very clearly indicated. The valence of 2+ 2- ++ -- ions must be given as, e.g., Ca and CO3 rather than as Ca and CO3 ; - Personal communication citations (abbreviated as “pers. comm.”) should be used very sparingly. In general, their use should be restricted to a self-contained or self-explanatory statement or attribution of credit where credit is due; the use of personal communication to cite an authority or a conclusion in a context that would normally call for a literature reference is not permitted.

2.2. Overall organization of the manuscript and subdivision of the article The manuscript must be entirely double-spaced, page- and line-numbered, and written in a 12-point standard font (Times New Roman or similar). The text should be in single-column format, with an automatic paragraph indentation. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible; do not use justified layout, automatic word breaking, or automatic (sub)sections and/or paragraph numbering. From introduction to conclusion, subsections should be hierarchically numbered: 1., then 1.1. (then 1.1.1., 1.1.2., etc.), 1.2., etc. First-level numbers (1., 2., etc.) must be in bold characters; second and higher-level numbers must be in italics. Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing (do not just refer to “the text”, “above” or “below”). Any section and subsection may be given a brief heading; each heading should appear on its own separate line.

Organize your manuscript in the following, standard way: Title (14-point, bold font) Author(s) name(s) and address(es), corresponding author Abstract Keywords 1. Introduction 2. Historical background and/or Geographical and/or Geological and/or Chronological and/or Paleontological setting(s) (optional) 3. Material and methods 4. Results 5. Discussion 6. Conclusions (optional) Acknowledgements Appendix (printed and/or electronic Supplementary Data) References Table and Figure captions If necessary/appropriate, a “Systematic paleontology” section can replace the “Results” section or can be intercalated between the “Material and methods” and “Results” sections – but not after the “Conclusions” section.

In all cases, divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections and subsections. Results and discussion, or discussion and conclusions should not be grouped into a single section, even in the case of short papers.

2.3. Title A title must be concise (~15 words max.), specific and informative – what, where, when and on what kind of material the paper is about. Avoid long strings of modifiers, abbreviations and contrived acronyms and jargon.

2.4. Author(s) name(s) and address(es), corresponding author Provide full first names and family names (in this order) for all authors. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (at least one per author) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter (a, b, c, etc.) immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name. Indicate the corresponding author for reviewing, publication and post-publication stages with a lower-case superscript star (*) after her/his name. Provide an e-mail address only for the corresponding author.

3/7 Instructions for Authors – Geobios Last Updated: September, 8th, 2017 2.5. Abstract and keywords A concise (no more than 300 words) and factual one-paragraph abstract is required. The abstract should briefly state the purpose of the research, the principal methods and data used, the main results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. References should therefore be avoided, but if essential, they must be cited in full, without reference to the reference list. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself. A maximum of six informative keywords is required. Exclude words already used in the title, and avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, e.g., "and", "of"); use only abbreviations firmly established in the field.

2.6. Main text In the Introduction (and Settings) section(s), state the objectives of the work and provide an adequate and sufficient background to give the new work context. In the Material and methods section, provide sufficient information to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference; only relevant modifications should be described. Lengthy tables of analyzed materials should be submitted as electronic Supplementary Data (see section 2.7). Samples should normally be positioned on a map and/or a stratigraphic section; locality information must include a precise geographical (e.g., GPS or UTM projections coordinates) and stratigraphic record of collecting sites. It may be appropriate to exclude locality information in order to protect a rare or exceptional collecting locality from unauthorized collecting or vandalism. In such cases, the locality information must be reposited with the institutional collections and available to qualified personnel. In the Systematic paleontology section, adopt the following rules for taxonomical nomenclature: Class Anthozoa Ehrenberg, 1834 Order Favositida Wedekind, 1937 Family Parastriatoporidae Tchudinova, 1959 Genus Parastriatopora Sokolov, 1949 Parastriatopora gigantea (Knod, 1908) Do not italicize modifiers (cf., aff., s.s., s.l., ?) when used with a genus and/or species name. Authors of scientific names should be given at least once in the text, if possible at first quotation; these names should not be capitalized. Explicit taxonomical ranks (Family, Order, etc.) can be omitted (in phylogenetic systematics, indication of Linnaean ranks can sometime be problematic). When defining a new taxon, ICZN or ICBN rules of nomenclatures apply (see section 2.1.). Abbreviations for new taxa are nov. sp., nov. gen., nov. fam., etc.; they have to be used whenever the new taxon name is cited (text, tables and figures). The number of a new taxon authors should be kept within reasonable limit, preferably not exceeding four. Concerning a new species, the type-specimen and related information (current location and inventory number, geographical and geological origin, age) must be clearly indicated and properly illustrated. All holotypes, paratypes and illustrated specimens must be reposited in a publicly accessible repository and assigned unique catalog numbers. The status and repository catalog numbers of additional material used in the study must also be recorded. Lists of synonymy should follow the example below (up to ~15 references, lengthy lists should be provided as supplementary material): 1921. Andriopora limax nov. sp. - Lang, p. 97, pl. 3, fig. 3. 1974. Ataxioceras desmoides Wegele - Shairer, p. 73, pl. 9, fig. 8. Headings and heading order for a new genus: Genus name – Synonymy – Derivation of the name – Type species – Included species – Occurrence – Diagnosis – Remarks. Headings and heading order for a new species: Species name – Figure(s) – Synonymy – Derivation of the name – Holotype – Paratypes – Material – Type Locality and horizon – Occurrence – Measurements – Diagnosis – Description – Remarks. A full systematic treatment is required for each new taxon. However, previously named taxa that are included within the Systematic paleontology section of a manuscript may not necessarily require a full treatment (synonymy, diagnosis, description, etc.), merely reiterating previously published material. For instance, in most cases a list of synonymy does not need to be a complete history of a combination, but should ideally cover the significant citations. The systematic treatment of previously named taxa must be scrutinized to eliminate unnecessary duplication of already published material. In the Results section, make a clear, logical and concise highlighting of the results and summarize the direct implications necessary to understand the article. Do not paraphrase material already in figures or tables. 4/7 Instructions for Authors – Geobios Last Updated: September, 8th, 2017 The Discussion section should explore the broader significance of the results – but it is not the place to recapitulate them. No new analyses and/or results should appear here. It may include limited speculation and prospects that will not appear in the conclusions. A short Conclusions section summarizes the conclusions of the study that have been firmly established. It should neither duplicate the Abstract and/or Discussion nor be a “more-research-is-needed” paragraph, but may contain new material such as open questions and hypotheses, and prospective ideas based entirely on the contents of the paper. The Acknowledgements section includes simple and straightforward (“I/We thank … for …”) information on individuals and organizations (e.g., teams, labs, museum, granting agencies…) who provided help in the performance of research, manuscript review and/or financial support (with grant number if appropriate).

2.7. Appendix and Electronic Supplementary Data Printed and/or electronic appendices can be associated with the published article. They must be submitted in electronic format with the original manuscript for review. Please supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file in the Appendix section of the manuscript (between the Acknowledgements and References sections). A printed appendix should be restricted to relatively short taxonomic lists and/or additional material ( 5 double- spaced pages) that cannot be easily inserted in the main text. It must be submitted within the same file as the main text, between the Acknowledgments and References sections. In addition, Geobios welcomes electronic Supplementary Material such as detailed geographical and stratigraphic locality information, full methodological frameworks, detailed systematic treatment (excluding new taxa) and/or description of fossil materials, large size tables and full datasets, supplementary references, but also additional high- quality illustrations such as large size field or panoramic photos, detailed lithological sections and stratigraphic correlations, 3D (µ)CT-Scan images, movies, animation sequences, computer software, supporting applications, etc. Supplementary Material must be submitted in one or more separate files for review; they will be published online alongside the electronic version of the article in the Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect.

2.8. References A one-to-one correspondence must exist between works cited in the text and those listed in the references. References associated with Systematic Paleontology (taxon author’s names and lists of synonymy) should not be listed; nevertheless, they can be provided as Supplementary Material if necessary. Forward references (“unpublished data”, “in preparation”, “to be submitted” or equivalent sentences) are not permitted. Parallel references (“submitted”, “in review”, “accepted” or “in press”) are accepted, but should be used very sparingly; in this case, the author(s) should be prepared to provide a copy of the paper to the editorial office, electronic if possible, for use by the Editor in chief, the Associate Editor, and/or the reviewers. The manuscript should be carefully checked to ensure that the spellings of authors' names and publication years are exactly the same in the text as in the reference list. Do not type author's and editor's names in capitals.

In the text, refer to the author's name and year of publication, followed – if necessary – by a short reference to the appropriate page(s), figure(s) or table(s). If reference is made in the text to publications written by more than two authors, use “et al.” after the name of the first author. References in the text should be arranged chronologically, and separated from each others by “;”. Example: (Boucot, 1963, 1975a; Boucot et al., 1964: p. 813; Boucot and Lawson, 1999: fig. 1).

The list of references should be arranged alphabetically by authors' names, and chronologically per author; last names of authors and all co-authors must be given in full; first names must be abbreviated. Example: Boucot, A.J., 1963. Boucot, A.J., 1975a. Boucot, A.J., 1975b. Boucot, A.J., Jonhson, J.G., Staton, R.D., 1964. Boucot, A.J., Lawson, J.D., 1999. Brayard, A., 2006. Seilacher, A., 1997. Sepkoski, J.J., Jr., Bambach, R.K., Droser, M.L., 1991. Tröger, K.-A., 1989.

5/7 Instructions for Authors – Geobios Last Updated: September, 8th, 2017 The following system should be used for arranging references: Journals Boucot, A.J., 1963. The Eospiriferidae. Palaeontology 5, 682–711. Boucot, A.J., 1975a. Reclassification of Australostrophia mesembria (Brachiopoda, Devonian). Journal of Paleontology 49, 633–637. Boucot, A.J., Johnson, J.G., Staton, R.D., 1964. On some atrypoid, retzioid, and athyridoid Brachiopoda. Journal of Paleontology 38, 805–822. Books Boucot, A.J., 1975b. Evolution and extinction rate controls. Elsevier, New York. Boucot, A.J., Lawson, J.D., Eds., 1999. Palaeocommunities - A case study from the Silurian and Lower Devonian. World and Regional Geology 11. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Chapter or paper in a book Sepkoski, J.J., Jr., Bambach, R.K., Droser, M.L., 1991. Secular changes in Phanerozoic event bedding and the biological overprint, in: Einsele, G., Ricken, W., Seilacher, A. (Eds.), Cycles and events in stratigraphy. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 298–312. Tröger, K.-A., 1989. Problems of Upper Cretaceous inoceramid biostratigraphy and paleobiogeography in Europe and western Asia, in: Wiedmann, J. (Ed.), Cretaceous of the western Tethys. Proceedings 3rd International Cretaceous Symposium, Tübingen 1987, pp. 911–930. Reports, proceedings of meetings and symposia Seilacher, A., 1997. Precambrian life styles related to biomats. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 29, A193. Unpublished thesis Brayard, A., 2006. Smithian (Early Triassic) ammonoids from Northwestern Guangxi (South China) and biogeographic modelling of the ammonoid recovery after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Ph.D. thesis, University of Zurich (unpubl.). Reference needing translation/transliteration of its title Grunt, R.E., 1980. Atirididy Russkoi platformy [Athyridids of the Russian Platform]. Akademiia Nauk SSSR, Paleontologicheskii Institut, Trudy 182, 1–163 (in Russian). Wang, J.Q., Zhu, M., 1996. [An Ordovician vertebrate from Inner Mongolia.] Chinese Science Bulletin 42, 1187– 1189 (in Chinese).

2.9. Tables Submit tables separate from the text – do not embed them in the text file. Tables should not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article (measurements and comparisons can often be presented in the form of tables better). Number the tables consecutively, according to their sequence in the text. Provide complete and informative table captions at the end of the text file, not attached to the table. When preparing tables if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each table and not one grid for each row. If no grid is being used, use tabs to align columns instead of spaces. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Submit tables in their native format (e.g., DOC or XLS files); do not use a graphic (e.g., JPG, TIFF, PNG, SVG, AI, EPS, PSD, etc.) or PDF format.

2.10. Figures All drawings, diagrams, schemes, figures and plates are called Figures and are numbered as such. Number the figures consecutively, according to their sequence in the text. Provide complete and informative figure captions at the end of the text file, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself), a description of the illustration, and an explanation of all symbols and abbreviations used. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum; use font size still fully legible at final (printed) size of the figure. Maximal size of printed figures is 8  23 cm (one column) and 18  23 cm (two columns). All maps should have a scale, and either a north arrow and/or an indication of degrees of latitude and longitude. Indicate the size of the illustrated objects using scale bars (lines thickness  3 points); do not indicate the length of a scale bar directly on the figure, but at the end of the figure caption. Do not use magnification numbers in the figure caption. When illustrating several objects (e.g., fossil specimens) on the same figure, organize them horizontally and vertically in a homogeneous and uniform way; use bold capitalized letters (A, B, C, etc.) to individualize each picture. Use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork. Allowed fonts are: Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Geneva, and Symbol; maximum size for embedded text: 14 points; max size for isolated letters/numbers: 12 points. 6/7 Instructions for Authors – Geobios Last Updated: September, 8th, 2017 All figures (original or scanned) must be saved as uncompressed TIFF, EPS or PSD files. Other popular file formats (PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PICT, SVG, etc.) are not allowed. The minimal resolution is of 300 dpi for the photographs in black and white or color, and 600 dpi for line drawings, graphs and diagrams. Photographs should be sharply focused and of medium contrast avoiding extremes of black and white and poorly contrasted tones. When preparing a composite photographic illustration, make sure that all the prints are of even tone and contrast. Spacing should be as uniform as possible. Photographs can be mounted on a white or black background; gray or color backgrounds are usually not allowed. Empty spaces should be avoided. Letters (A, B, C, etc.) run consecutively from left to right and from top to bottom of each figure. Scale bars (simple black or white lines) accompany each figure (e.g., maps, stratigraphic columns, composite figure with photographs of fossils, etc.). Please do not: - Supply figures embedded in the text file; - Supply low-resolution files (i.e., < 300 DPI) optimized for screen use (e.g., JPG, GIF, PNG, PICT, SVG, WPG); - Submit figures that are disproportionately large for the content. Permissions should be obtained to reproduce figures published elsewhere. Concerning color illustrations, please be informed that: 1. Color illustrations in print will be charged to the author. 2. Color illustrations on the web (PDF version of the article; ScienceDirect) are free of charge. For color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. Please indicate your preference for color in print or on the Web only. Because of technical complications which can arise by converting color figures to “grey scale” (for the printed version should you not opt for color in print) please submit in addition usable black and white files corresponding to all the color illustrations. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork please refer to the following website: http://authors.elsevier.com/locate/authorartwork.

3. Analysis of manuscripts Geobios operates a single blind peer-review process. During the electronic submission procedure, authors are requested to give the name and e-mail address of potential reviewers along with their manuscript. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal, including scientific relevance, quality and conformity of illustration and general presentation. Papers deemed suitable are then assigned to an associate-editor and sent to a minimum of two, usually three independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles; revisions can also be required prior to any final editorial decision. Depending on the nature of the required revisions, a revised manuscript can be sent to a new round of peer-review. The Editor's decision is final. Reviewers’ reports and editorial decisions are sent by e-mail to the corresponding author.

4. Proofs and reprints One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author for correction. They have to be thoroughly checked and corrected directly on the PDF file using Adobe Reader (instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs), and then returned to Elsevier by e-mail. If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them to Elsevier in an e-mail; please list your corrections quoting line number. Neither rearrangement of text, nor addition/canceling of illustration and references is accepted on proofs. The author will be charged for any important changes other than the correction of typing mistakes. We do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received. A free PDF version of the article or twenty-five (25) free reprints are sent to the corresponding author. Additional copies may be purchased (a reprint order form is sent to the author along with the proofs, as well as a subscription offer with preferential rate). For any further information please visit our customer support site at http://epsupport.elsevier.com.

Editor in chief: Gilles Escarguel Publishing Editor: Emilie Wang Journal Manager: Karine Cuny . 7/7